


Sworn on the Stars

by firebirdphoenixxx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), No Smut, Rivalry, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25100509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firebirdphoenixxx/pseuds/firebirdphoenixxx
Summary: Harry never expected he’d spend so much time with Malfoy in their 8th year. However, after an argument in potions, the boys find themselves stuck as partners for the rest of the year. Although they resent it at first, Harry and Draco became friends, growing closer every day. Eventually, they realize they want something more, and their relationship becomes a mess of pining and secrets, secrets that they had sworn on the stars not to tell anyone. And the stars? They just might help them get by.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pansyseed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pansyseed/gifts).



Harry hated Draco.

He always had, from the moment they met. He had insulted his friends, after all. Ever since then, he’d been unavoidable. Always inconveniencing Harry’s life in some sort of way. No matter where he went, no matter how far he tried to go and hide, Malfoy always found him. But not this year. This year, Harry would finally have a break. After the war, the Malfoys had disappeared completely. It was highly unlikely that Draco would return for his 8th year of Hogwarts. Finally, Harry would have a Malfoy-free year.

“Are you kidding me?” Harry huffed, throwing his trunk onto his bed. He had jinxed himself, right off the bat. He had ensured himself of a Malfoy-free year, and there he was, unpacking his trunk in the bed next to Harry’s. He looked up, his cold, grey eyes piercing into Harry’s soul.

“If you can’t tell, Potter, I’m not too pleased about the situation either,” Malfoy spat. They flared at each other for a few moments, until Harry whipped his head back to his trunk. They didn’t speak again, as Harry quickly unpacked and raced down to the common room to see if his friends had arrived yet. They had, in fact, and met Harry at the fireplace. 

“Harry!” Hermione and Ron yelled as they enveloped Harry in a tight embrace. He laughed and pulled away from them.

“Ron! ‘Mione! How was your summer?” Harry asked, happy to be reunited with his friends.

“Good! Mum has been worried sick about you, and I’ve been working at Fred ‘n George’s store!” Ron said. 

“What about you, ‘Mione?” 

“Practicing spells and reading,” Hermione beamed.

Harry cracked a grin. “It’s nice to see some things never change.”

“Well this year is sure to be a change,” Ron huffed. “Neville is my dormmate this year, poor guy can’t keep anything organized.” 

Harry sighed. “Tell me about it. Malfoy is my dormmate this year.” 

“Holy cricket! Malfoy came back? I thought he disappeared forever!” Hermione uttered. 

Ron laughed uncomfortably. “It’s seems impossible for you to avoid Malfoy. Maybe it’s destiny or something.”

After some uncomfortable silence, the trio looked at the clock over the fireplace. “It’s almost time for the welcoming feast! Come on, let’s go to the Great Hall!” Ron exclaimed. Together, the three walked out of the common room, on their way to start a new year.

—————

“Welcome students, new and old, to another magnificent year at Hogwarts!” McGonagall enthused. She looked so wise, standing up on the podium where Dumbledore once stood. Yet she seemed somehow more powerful than him. She looked through the sea of students. “As you can see, things are a bit different this year. After the war destroyed last year’s academics, students who were in the 7th year of school were invited to come back to finish their studies. Once again, welcome all!”

Harry, to tell the complete truth, didn’t hear a word McGonagall said, as he was lost in his own thoughts. Why did Malfoy, of all people, have to dorm with him? Why was he back at Hogwarts? Where was he all summer, when he had essentially vanished? Harry didn’t snap back into reality, trapped in his mind until it hit him. “It” being a book. 

“Ow! Hermione, what was that for?” Harry groaned. 

“You must be thinking about something really interesting if you didn’t see all of the food appear in front of you,” Ron said, his mouth stuffed with chicken. Indeed, Harry hadn’t seen the fact that the magical banquet had appeared right before him. He grabbed at the food greedily, as he couldn’t remember the last time he had had a good meal. 

“I can’t wait to go back to our dorms and get our schedules!” Hermione gushed. 

“Classic Hermione. Always worried about school,” Ron chuckled as he put his arm around Hermione. Harry stiffened. He was happy for Ron and Hermione, but there was another feeling, a feeling of jealousy. He had what they had with Ginny. A special bond. She was everything to him. They had plans to start a life together after the war. But there was no after for her. The memories of her limp body in his arms haunted him. Her final breaths etched in the back of his mind. 

Harry snapped into reality. You can’t focus on things you can’t change, he told himself. He smiled and continued the conversation with his friends, and the thoughts of what could’ve been slipped away from his mind.

—————

Harry has decided after 5 minutes that he, indeed, still hated potions. 

The teacher had assigned random partners for the first project, and Harry was stuck with Malfoy. The boy kept to himself, chopping and slicing ingredients as the book instructed him. Eventually, he silently slid a bowl of shriveled leaves. Harry was unsure what they were. 

“Potter, can you make yourself useful and add those to the pot as the book says?” Malfoy spat. Harry decided, in a moment of spite, to just dump all of the leaves in at once. The contents of the pot started sizzling rapidly. Draco looked at Harry with wide eyes, and looked over into the pot. It was at that exact moment that the liquid decided to explode. 

Harry cringed as Malfoy backed away from the pot. He was covered in green goop, and looked like he was ready to strangle Harry. Harry let out a small snicker that Malfoy didn’t miss.

“You think this is fucking funny Potter?” Draco spat. 

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t looked over the pot!” Harry said. 

“This wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t braindead!” Draco spat.

“Well I’d rather be braindead than soaked in unidentifiable liquid,” Harry laughed. Draco lunged for the pot, and when Harry realized what was happening, it was already too late. Harry was now covered head to toe in green sludge, and he wasn’t happy. But before he could get back at Malfoy, Slughorn intervened.

“MALFOY! POTTER! SEE ME AFTER CLASS!”

—————

“Boys, I am very disappointed by both of your behaviors during today’s lesson. But I haven’t the slightest on how to punish you. I could make you clean the bathrooms. Or I could send you on a journey with Hagrid,” Slughorn pondered. After a moment, he smiled. “Actually, I have a great idea!”

Harry and Draco both tensed. They could only imagine what sort of cruel punishment Slughorn could dream up. But what they heard was unexpected.

“I think what you boys need is to get along. So as my punishment, the two of you will be assigned as potions partners for the rest of the year. No exceptions.”


	2. The Promise

“I can’t fucking believe it!” Harry spat.

He was stuck with Malfoy all year now. He didn’t know if he could bear it. It didn’t seem like Ron or Hermione could bear it either.

“Hey, it could be worse,” Hermione said calmly. “At least Malfoy is smart! He won’t bring your grade down.”

“Do you think that even matters right now Hermione?” Harry said, getting a bit upset at his friend. 

Ron cringed. “You know Harry, Mione isn’t wrong.”

Harry glared at his friend. “Forget it. There’s only one person who will actually listen to me, and I’m going to go find her,” Harry said as he stormed out of the door.

—————

“And I’m just so frustrated! I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with him at all and now we’re stuck together  _ all year _ .” 

Luna studies him and looked off. “I understand what you mean, Harry. But have you considered that maybe Malfoy has changed?” 

“I’m sure he hasn’t changed. He’s a heartless monster who doesn’t care about anyone except himself!” Harry spat.

“Of course he has people he cares about, it’s foolish to think he doesn’t,” Luna said softly. Before Harry could open his mouth, Luna widened her eyes. “And I have proof of it! Jack, darling, come meet my friend Harry!”

Harry wasn’t sure what to expect of Jack, but what he got was definitely not even imaginable. For starters, Jack was a girl. Not that it mattered. It was just… unexpected. She was also incredibly fit, so much so that Harry was a bit jealous. She was drenched in sweat, with a broom in hand. Me made eye contact with him, and smiled. 

“So you’re the boy who lived, huh? Nice to meet you. I’m Jack,” The girl smiled.

“Jack?” Harry said, a bit dazed and confused. 

Jack tensed. “It’s short for Jacqueline. Jacqueline Beausoleil.”

Harry tried to figure out why that sounded so familiar. Before he could ask, Luna interjected.

“Harry’s having a Malfoy problem.”

Jack laughed. “Ah, that boy is trouble,” she sighed.

“You know Malfoy?” Harry asked, intrigued.

“Of course I do, we grew up together,” Jack said. “He’s one of the closest friends I have. He helped me when I was- nevermind, it’s not important.” She turned to Harry, her expression softening.

“Look, I know he can be a nuisance, but he really does have a heart. He’s the only one who understood what I was going through. As much as he’s a token Slytherin, he’s one of the most loyal people I’ve met. I know he isn’t… the ideal person to hang around, you being you, but you just need to give him a chance. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get to see sides of each other you hadn’t even thought possible.” 

Harry, unfortunately, hadn’t listened to anything that she said. He had one recurring thought, and before he could find the right words to say it, he blurted out his extremely misleading thoughts:

“Why are you dating Luna if you’re a girl?”

Jack’s face dropped. “Excuse me?” 

“What?” Harry asked, painfully oblivious to the situation he had put himself in.

Jack raised a fist, but Luna placed a hand on her shoulder. “Give him a minute, darling. I’m sure he means no harm.”

After a few seconds, it finally clicked. “Oh my god I’m so sorry!” Harry blurted. “I didn’t mean- I just forgot- I’m so sorry-“

Jack laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. It’s alright. You scared me for a second!” She looked at him again. “Did you hear what I said about Draco?”

Harry turned pink and shook his head. Jack told him everything over again, and Harry looked perplexed. “I guess I never thought of it like that. I suppose he does have feelings too,” Harry said.

“So you’ll think about giving him a second chance?” Jack asked. 

“Maybe. I’ll start slow, maybe try being less of a prick to him,” Harry sighed. Jack hugged him. 

“Thank you,” she whispered. 

Harry got up and walked indoors, unsure of where Malfoy stood in his mind. 

—————

“Harry, pay attention!” Hermione whispered from behind him. 

Harry snapped back into attention. They were in potions class, and the assignment at hand was difficult: Draught of the Living Death. Malfoy was quietly stirring the pot, and Harry was tasked with the beans.

_ Snape had notes on this,  _ Harry thought. He thought long and hard.  _ Oh!  _ Thought Harry.  _ I have to crush the beans! _

As Harry was crushing the beans, he felt a pair of eyes on him.

“Potter, you’re doing it wrong. You have to slice them.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, then remembered his promise to Jack.  _ I might as well give him a chance.  _

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Is there a specific way to slice them?” Harry sighed. Draco looked at him, shocked that Harry actually agreed with him. He then grabbed the knife from Harry. 

“Okay, so what you want to do is chop. A lot of people try and saw through it, which costs them a lot of time,” Draco said as he cut a bean in half with a swift chop. “You try.”

Harry grabbed the knife and swiftly chopped down on a bean, and it fell into clean halves.

“Good job,” Draco said.

“Thanks,” Harry smiled. 

As they got up to turn in the potion, Harry realized that that was a real, genuine smile. He hadn’t done that since the war.  _ Malfoy, how did you do that? _


	3. Chapter 3- Pride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SMALL TW: BLOOD AND KNIVES

“So what did you do to piss Draco off?”

Harry sighs. “Well…”

\----------

*One day earlier*

Harry had started to hate potions less and less each day. When he wasn’t being a prick, Malfoy was a good potions partner. They got a perfect grade in almost every class, much to everyone else’s surprise. They even had regular conversations, on occasion.

Today was not an occasion.

Harry sat in silence, preparing the ingredients for today’s potion, which was an advanced version of Veritaserum, the most powerful truth serum in the world. He was slicing carefully, making sure not to mess up so that Malfoy had nothing to give him shit about.

Slughorn cleared his throat. “Attention students...I just wanted to let you know that you’ll all be having an independent potions quiz tomorrow, no partners allowed.”

All of Harry’s hard work went down the drain, as he dropped his knife onto his finger, resulting in a gash across it, spilling blood onto all of his work.

“Well now you’ve done it.” Malfoy sighed with annoyance.

Harry cringed. “Sorry...I just wasn’t expecting to have a quiz tomorrow. I can’t exactly make a good potion on my own.”

“That’s obvious enough.”

Harry looked down onto their station with disappointment. He’d definitely fail the quiz unless he got help, and he felt bad asking Hermione-

“Potter.”

Harry looked up at Malfoy. He was looking at Harry, and was silent for a few seconds before he spoke again.

“Since you’re obviously hopeless on your own for the quiz, I’m going to help you so you don’t make a fool out of me as my partner.”

Harry grinned. “So you’re saying you’ll help me study?”

“Yeah, whatever. You’re welcome,” Draco said as he started to clean the workspace. 

Harry started to pack his things, and asked, “So what time should I be over at your dorm?”

“Potter.”

“What?”

“We are literally roommates.”

Harry mentally kicked himself. “Right, sorry. See you later then.”

\----------

“I don’t see the problem there?” Jack says, confused.

“Hang on,” Harry sighs, “I’m not done yet.”

\----------

“Thank you for helping me study,” Harry said gratefully. “I might actually have a chance at passing now.”

“You’d better pass, Potter, or else this would have been a waste of my time,” Draco mumbled as he rolled up his parchment.

“You know, you’re actually really smart.” 

Draco froze. “Excuse me?”

Harry blinked. Had he said something wrong? He was just trying to be appreciative of Malfoy’s help. “What?”

“I’ve been second to the top in almost every class for almost every year at this school, and you have the nerve to say I’m ‘actually smart?’ Did you think I was stupid or something?” Malfoy ridiculed. 

Harry tensed. “I wasn’t trying to offend you-”

“Well, you fucking did,” Malfoy spat. “You know what? I hope you fail that quiz tomorrow, you deserve it.” With that, Malfoy stood and turned towards the door.

“Malfoy, where are you going? This is our do-”

Draco cut him off. “I’m going to sleep on the fucking couch, that’s where. Goodnight.”

With that, he stood up and walked out the door. Harry sighed. He’d fucked up. There was only one way to solve this.

—————

“…so that’s why I need your help.”

Jack puts her head in her hands and sighs deeply. “That boy’s pride is going to be the death of him, I swear. Look…do you want me to talk to him? He’ll definitely listen to me, and I-“

“I want to fix this myself,” Harry says. “I feel like I have to own up to my own mistake, you know?”

She nods. “Just apologize, genuinely, and explain that you didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. You were just trying to give him a compliment, after all.”

“I’ll do that,” Harry says, standing up. “Thank you, and I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“Don’t worry about it, I was only practicing for tomorrow’s game. Go talk to him, alright?”

“I will! Have a nice day!” Harry shouts as he runs off towards Hogwarts. 

Jack sighs to herself. “Stupid men are why I’m gay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaand we’re back!  
> I finally decided to give this fic another shot, so thank you to those who’ve sticked around. I’m thinking of writing a separate fic about Jack’s life- let me know in the comments if that’s something you’d be interested in. Once again, thank you so much for your patience, and welcome back :)


End file.
